1. Field Of Technology
The present invention relates to a printer and control method for printing to slips, validation tickets, and other single sheet forms as well as printing to roll paper.
2. Description Of Related Art
Printers such as POS printers and teller terminal printers typically use roll paper for example., as the printing medium for printing receipts. Some printers can also print to checks, slips, validation tickets, and other single-sheet forms at the same time. These printers must be able to accurately print the print data sent from a host device, and roll paper is the most common print medium used. If roll paper is absent when the power is turned on the roll paper supply is depleted during operation, prior-art printers of this type typically go off-line, and prevent print commands and print data from being sent from the host device. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. H10-119391.
There are also POS printers having both a receipt printing mechanism and a journal printing mechanism that switch printing to receipt paper or journal paper according to a command from the host device and go off-line if the selected printing paper, that is, receipt paper or journal paper, runs out, but do not go off-line if the supply of printing paper that is not selected runs out. See, for example, Japanese Patent 2987958.
Depending upon the actual conditions where this printer is used, however, the printer may be used only for printing slips and may never be used for printing to roll paper. When a printer according to the prior art that takes the printer off-line when roll paper is not loaded is used in this operating environment, the printer is rendered unable to print to single sheets, including slips and checks, if roll paper is not loaded in the printer even though the printer only prints to single sheets.
In thermal printers in which the roll paper is always held between a line thermal head and the platen, it does not matter if there is slack in the roll paper when the power is turned on, even with drop-in type roll paper loading systems. However, when inkjet printers using an inkjet head or serial impact dot matrix printers use a drop-in loading roll paper feed mechanism, slack tends to develop in the roll paper regardless of how the roll paper is held when the power turns on because tension is not applied to the paper as it is in a thermal printer. When the roll paper is loaded, the paper is advanced slightly and cut when the power is turned on in order to remove this slack. This obviously wastes roll paper.
Furthermore, because drop-in-loading roll paper printers cannot convey the roll paper in reverse, roll paper is wasted each time the power is turned off and on again.
The prior art that selects whether to print to journal paper or receipt paper and takes the printer off-line even when the printing paper that is not selected runs out confirms whether the journal paper and receipt paper are loaded when the power is turned on or reset, and takes the printer off-line when the journal paper and/or receipt paper runs out. Therefore, even when there is no plan to print to roll paper, journal paper and/or receipt paper must be loaded to prevent the printer going off-line when the power is turned on or reset, and both time and money are wasted.
The printing apparatus of the present invention does not require roll paper to be loaded if there is no expectation of printing to roll paper.